(a) No
owner, agent, lessee or other person occupying or having charge or
control of any building, lot or premises within the city shall permit
weeds to remain upon the premises, or public sidewalks, or streets,
or alleys between the premises and the centerline of any public street
or alley.
(b) "Weeds,"
as used in this chapter, means all weeds growing upon streets, alleys,
sidewalks, or private property in the city and includes any of the
following:
(1) Weeds which bear or may bear seeds of a downy or wingy nature;
(2) Weeds and indigenous grasses which may attain such large growth as
to become, when dry, a fire menace to adjacent improved property;
(3) Weeds which are otherwise noxious or dangerous;
(4) Poison oak and poison ivy when the conditions of growth are such
as to constitute a menace to the public health;
(5) Accumulation of garden refuse, cuttings and other combustible trash.
(c) Every
property owner shall remove or destroy such weeds from his property,
and in the abutting half of any street or alley between the lot lines
as extended.
(Prior code § 4-10.01)
Whenever any such weeds are growing upon any private property
or properties or in any street or alley within the city, the council
shall pass a resolution declaring the same to be a public nuisance,
and order the director of community development to give notice of
the passage of such resolution as herein provided, and stating therein
that, unless such nuisance is abated without delay by the destruction
or removal of such weeds, the work of abating such nuisance will be
done by the city authorities, and the expense thereof assessed upon
the lots and lands from which, and/or in the front and rear of which,
such weeds shall have been destroyed or removed. Such resolution shall
fix the time and place for hearing any objections to the proposed
destruction or removal of such weeds.
Notice of passage of the resolution and of the time and place
of the hearing shall be given by publication of notice once in a newspaper
of general circulation published and circulated within the city of
Sunnyvale not less than ten days prior to the date of the hearing.
(Prior code § 4-10.02; Ord. 1544-69 § 1, 1969)
The notice shall be in substantially the following form:
Notice To Destroy Weeds
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NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on __________ pursuant to the provisions of Section 8.20.020 of the Municipal Code of the City of Sunnyvale, the City Council of said City passed a resolution declaring that all weeds growing upon any private property or in any public street or alley, as defined in Section 8.20.010 of said Municipal Code, constitute a public nuisance, which nuisance must be abated by the destruction or removal thereof.
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NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that property owners shall, without
delay, remove all such weeds from their property, and the abutting
half of the street in front and alleys, if any, behind such property,
and between the lot lines thereof as extended, or such weeds will
be destroyed or removed and such nuisance abated by the City authorities,
in which case the cost of such destruction or removal will be assessed
upon the lots and lands from which or from the front or rear of which,
such weeds shall have been destroyed or removed; and such cost will
constitute a lien upon such lots or lands until paid, and will be
collected upon the next tax roll upon which general municipal taxes
are collected. All property owners having any objections to the proposed
destruction or removal of such weeds are hereby notified to attend
a meeting of the Council of said City, to be held in the Council Chambers
of said City of Sunnyvale, on __________ at_____o'clock p.m., when
and where their objections will be heard and given due consideration.
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Dated this _____ day of__________, 20_____.
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___________________________________
Director of Community Development
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(Prior code § 4-10.03; Ord. 1544-69 § 2, 1969)
At the time stated in the notice, the council shall hear and
consider any and all objections to the proposed destruction or removal
of such weeds, and may continue the hearing from time to time. The
council by motion or resolution shall allow or overrule any and all
objections, if any, after which the council shall thereupon be deemed
to have acquired jurisdiction to proceed and perform the work of destruction
and removal of the weeds.
(Prior code § 4-10.04)
The council shall by resolution order the director of community
development to abate such nuisance, or cause the same to be abated,
by having the weeds referred to destroyed or removed by cutting, disking,
chemical spraying or any other method as may be determined by the
city council. The director of community development and his duly authorized
representatives, employees, contracting agents are hereby expressly
authorized to enter upon private property for that purpose. Any property
owner shall have the right to destroy or remove such weeds himself,
or have the same destroyed or removed at his own expense, provided
that such weeds shall have been removed prior to the arrival of the
director of community development, or his authorized representatives,
employees or contracting agents to remove them.
(Prior code § 4-10.05; Ord. 1544-69 § 3)
The director of community development shall keep an account
of the cost of abating such nuisance and embody such account in a
report and assessment list to the city council, which shall be filed
with the clerk. Such report shall refer to each separate lot or parcel
of land by description sufficient to identify such lot or parcel,
together with the expense proposed to be assessed against each separate
lot or parcel of land.
(Prior code § 4-10.06; Ord. 1544-69 § 4)
The city clerk shall post copies of such report and assessment
list on the bulletin board in front of the council chambers of the
city of Sunnyvale, on the bulletin board in the main lobby of the
City Hall, and on the bulletin board of the headquarters station of
the department of public safety, respectively, together with a notice
of the filing thereof and of the time and place when and where it
will be submitted to the city council for hearing and confirmation,
notifying property owners that they may appear at such time and place,
and object to any matter contained therein. A like notice shall also
be published twice in a newspaper of general circulation, published
and circulated within the city. The posting and first publication
of the notice shall be made and completed at least ten days before
the time such report shall have been submitted to the city council.
Such notice, as so posted and published, shall be substantially in
the following form:
NOTICE OF HEARING ON
REPORT AND ASSESSMENT
FOR WEED ABATEMENT
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NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on __________, the Director of Community
Development of the City of Sunnyvale filed with the City Clerk of
said City a report and assessment on abatement of weeds within said
City, copies of which are posted on the bulletin board in front of
the Council Chambers of the City of Sunnyvale, on the bulletin board
in the main lobby of the City Hall, and on the bulletin board of the
Headquarters Station of the Department of Public Safety (and specifying
the address of each location).
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NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that on __________ at the hour of_____o'clock
p.m., in the Council Chambers of said City Hall, said report and assessment
list shall be presented to the City Council of said City for consideration
and confirmation and that any and all persons interested having any
objections to said report and assessment list, or to any matter or
thing contained therein, may appear at said time and place and be
heard.
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DATED this _____ day of __________, 20_____.
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City Clerk of the City of Sunnyvale
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(Prior code § 4-10.07; Ord. 1544-69 § 5)
At the time and place fixed for receiving and considering such
report, the city council shall hear the same together with any objections
which may be raised by any of the property owners liable to be assessed
for the work of abating such nuisance, and the director of community
development shall attend such meeting with his record thereof, and
upon such hearing, the council may make such modifications in the
proposed assessment thereof as it may deem necessary, after which
such report and assessment list shall be confirmed by resolution.
The amount of the cost of abating such nuisance upon, or in
the front or rear of, the various lots or parcels of land respectively
referred to in such report, shall constitute special assessments against
such respective lots or parcels of land, and after thus made and confirmed,
shall constitute a lien on such property for the amount of such assessment,
until paid.
(Prior code § 4-10.08; Ord. 1544-69 § 6)
The director of finance shall cause the amount of the assessment
to be entered on the city assessment roll opposite the description
of the particular property, and the amount shall be collected together
with all other taxes thereon upon the property. Thereafter such amounts
shall be collected at the same time, and in the same manner, as general
city taxes are collected and shall be subjected to the same penalties
and interest, and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency
as provided for city taxes. All laws and ordinances applicable to
the levy, collection and enforcement of city taxes are hereby made
applicable to such special assessment.
(Prior code § 4-10.09)